5 killed in J&K gunfight, clashes

Srinagar, Dec 15 (IANS) Three militants were killed on Saturday in a gunfight with the security forces in Jammu and Kashmir's Pulwama district, while two civilians died in subsequent clashes in the area, police said. The gunfight took place earlier in the day in Sirnoo village after the security forces received a tip-off about the holed-up militants. The identities of the slain militants were being ascertained, the police said. Two youths, identified as Amir Ahmad and Abid Hussain, sustained gun shot injuries in the clashes which erupted at the gunfight site between protesting civilians and the security forces. Ahmad and Hussain were shifted to hospital they were declared dead on arrival. Three other youths were also injured in the clashes, the police said. The authorities have suspended mobile internet in Pulwama and rail services between the Kashmir Valley and Bannihal town in the Jammu region were cancelled.